Cypriot sailor Pavlos Kontides returns to competitive sailing on Sunday at the 55th Trofeo Princesa Sofia in Palma de Mallorca, following a back injury.

Kontides will compete alongside around 200 other athletes, aiming to “make the best possible start to the season,” the Limassol nautical club said.

Kontides participated in an exhibition race on Thursday, finishing fourth.

Kontides’ best result in Palma came in 2023, when he finished fourth, while last year he placed ninth.

The Mallorca grand slam is the first of five events in the 2026 series, with subsequent races in L’Hieres in April, the Netherlands in late May, Kiel in June, and Long Beach in mid-summer, where he won bronze last year.

Another Cypriot in the same class, Emilios Poeros, the bronze World Youth Champion from December 2025, is also competing, alongside Natasa Lappa and Marilena Makri in the women’s race.

Kontides, born in Limassol, is a two-time Olympic silver medallist in the Laser class, a former world champion in 2017 and 2018, and currently ranked third in the ILCA 7 men’s rankings.

He is training under Jozo Jakelic while studying nautical science at the University of Southampton and has expressed his aim of competing for Olympic gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.